Empire and Honor (Honor Bound 7)

Von Wachtstein and then Boltitz stood.

“I think this is where I get to say, ‘Speak of the devil,’” von Wachtstein said in English.

“So it is you, Peter,” the gaunt man said, and added, looking at Boltitz, “The both of you.”

“Colonel Mattingly,” von Wachtstein said, “may I introduce former Oberstleutnant von und zu Aschenburg? Dieter, this is Colonel Robert Mattingly.”

Von und zu Aschenburg came to attention, clicked his heels, and bobbed his head in a bow. “Herr Oberst.”

“You can forget all that, Dieter,” von Wachtstein said. “The war’s over.”

“And we survived,” von und zu Aschenburg said.

“And Willi?” von Wachtstein asked softly.

“He’s out there,” von und zu Aschenburg said, gesturing toward the street, “waiting to see what was going to happen to me when I asked for you.”

“I’ll go get him,” Peter said. He looked at Mattingly, then asked, “With your permission, of course, Colonel?”

“Of course,” Mattingly said.

Was that sarcastic?

Keep in mind that von Wachtstein does not work for you.

With you, but not for you. You can’t give him orders.

Von Wachtstein walked quickly out of the kitchen.

Von und zu Aschenburg looked at Mattingly. “May I ask how well you speak German, Herr Oberst? My English—”

“Your English is fine, Colonel. But I speak German.”

Von und zu Aschenburg then said, “When we found the notes on the Gedächtniskirche fence”—he waited to see if Mattingly understood, and when Mattingly nodded, went on—“I recognized the address, the home of Admiral Canaris. . . .”

“How did you know it?”

“I’ve been here many times,” von und zu Aschenburg said.

“Bob,” Boltitz began, “when Dieter was flying Condors to Buenos Aires—”

“Doing what?” Mattingly interrupted.

“Are you familiar with the Focke-Wulf Condor?”

“No,” Mattingly said simply.

“It was a Lufthansa transport airplane,” von und zu Aschenburg explained. “It looked something like your DC-3 except it was slightly larger, had four engines, and on short hauls could carry twenty-six passengers. Considerably fewer than that of course when flying across the Atlantic.”

“And you flew one of these airplanes to Buenos Aires?” Mattingly asked.

I never heard about that.

One more massive cavity revealed in the intelligence database of Colonel Robert Mattingly.

“I flew a lot of those airplanes to Buenos Aires,” von und zu Aschenburg said.

“He flew diplomatic pouches back and forth between Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop and Ambassador Lutzenberger,” Boltitz said, “and brought Admiral Canaris’s orders to me. Fortunately, he was never caught.”